


Two Lesbians Walk into a Bar...

by clareabshire



Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 13:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30139914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clareabshire/pseuds/clareabshire
Summary: Vodka Sours, Trauma bonding, and Dancing with friends... perfect kind of Tuesday Night.
Relationships: Mal/Uma (Disney)
Kudos: 10





	Two Lesbians Walk into a Bar...

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger Warning on this piece of work for: Mommy Issues, Suicide, Self Harm, Self Destruction, and Trauma Bonding. I really also want to add I don’t actually like Trauma Bonding. I think it’s the absolute worst way to connect with someone, and dumping all of your emotional baggage on a stranger is not something I would recommend! Don’t look at this work and think this is something you should do. This is more of an emotional outlet for me versus something I think people should be doing or romanticizing!!
> 
> Also don't worry I'm still writing 'a dangerous touch' but I had some serious inspiration for this work and I had to write it.

Uma needed noise, she couldn’t stay in the house any longer and look at her mother’s face anymore. She couldn’t see her mother and her aunt, Morgana smiling and laughing at Uma’s expense any more. She could feel her anger rising every moment she stayed in the house. So she did the only thing she could do to stop from rocking the boat any further. 

She left and went to her favorite bar. 

_ The Isle of the Lost _ was a fun gay on the other side of town where Uma would spend her free time when she needed to escape. Uma was a little surprised at how long it had been since her last visit, Uma thought she had been doing things pretty well when it came to her mental health but the day she had with her mom and her aunt let her know she wasn’t exactly done with all her healing just yet, her last visit had to have been almost a whole year ago. 

So when she walks into the low lit bar and is instantly hit with the familiar scent of lavender, chamomile, and sweat a roller coaster of emotions overtakes Uma for just a moment. She’s hit with flashes when she first met Gil and Harry here, when she found herself here crying when her mom threatened to hit her one two many times, dancing on the tables, and kissing strangers. Uma finds tears filling her eyes but she takes a breath and shakes her head along with the memories away as she heads straight to the bar. 

_ Vodka sour, vodka sour, vodka sour.  _ Was the only thing on her mind as she hops up to sit down at the bar stool, as she looks at all the different types of alcohol displayed on the wall behind the bar under the warm yellow lights. Zolita’s song  _ Bedspell  _ blasts from the speakers as the girls, guys, and theys dance around her. Uma people watches as she waits for the bar femme to ask for her order. 

“Hey beautiful, how ya doing tonight?” 

Uma looks up at the bar femme and almost chokes on her own air. The woman before is absolutely stunning, with long brown roots that trickle into even lighter blonde locks. Her eyes were a stunning shade of green, bright and glorious, staring into Uma’s dark brown ones. Her eyeliner was a sharp fox eye. She had a small nose, high cheekbones, strong jaw line and full pink lips. She smirks down at Uma as she comes right in front of her and leans over the bar “Hiii,” the barmaid says when Uma can’t find any words to answer her, and Uma tries really hard not to look down at her low cut black shirt which dipped down further and exposes her breasts in a way that makes Uma’s mouth water. 

“Hello,” Uma’s voice sounds, robotic, confused. She shakes her head trying to shake off the gay panic that comes from beautiful women. “Hey, um, I’m doing alright, how are you?” 

The woman continues to stare into Uma’s eyes and she squints “you’re a terrible liar, darling.” 

Uma can’t help it, she laughs, “Wow, you are not the first person to tell me that,” 

“I have a good eye,” she laughs again “What are you drinking tonight?” 

“Make me a cherry vodka sour, please?” Uma asks

The barmaid smirks “Ooooh, it’s a sour night, absolutely, I love a woman who loves a little tang in the night.” 

Uma smiles “It fits the mood of the night.” 

“Oh?” The blonde says as she turns to grab her ingredients from under the bar and behind herself “What happened to make tonight so tangy?” 

“You don’t even wanna know,” Uma laughs but only laughs to stop herself from tearing up, she knows she needs to talk about it but telling a really pretty lady about her problems? 

“It’s a slow night, it is a Tuesday,” She says “Entertain me, I have a long shift to go,” 

Uma stares at the blonde as she takes Uma’s drink in the shaker and mixes it all up, Uma can’t stop staring at her arms... how the muscles appear and the veins begin to show, Uma takes a deep breath and she looks away. “Fine, fine,” Uma breaks up the one sided tension by pushing her long black and blue braids behind her back and sitting up in her chair “but before I bare my soul to you oh beautiful barmaid, I must have your name. I’m Uma, by the way.” 

The blonde grins “My name is Maleficent,” 

“Like the dragon?” 

“Oh baby, I am the dragon,” her grin now is more like baring teeth “you can call me Mal for short though,” 

Something about the way Maleficent says it and looks deep into Uma’s eyes makes heat radiate all over her body as Maleficent slides Uma her drink, she takes it - breaking the eye contact between her and the blonde and takes a sip. There’s something about Vodka that just makes Uma feel relaxed but the splash of the sour shoots her back into reality. She can feel the heat sinking into her and relaxing her. 

“Alright Ms. Dragon. What do you want to know?” 

“Why does it look like you have been holding back tears from the moment you looked at me?” 

“Because I was sad before I walked in here,” 

“What made you sad?” 

“The fact that I’m twenty-three, never been to college, still live at home with an abusive toxic family environment, and the only people that I actually talk to on a regular everyday basis are the people who are constantly putting me down and not helping me be an adult.” 

“Whew,” Maleficent breathes out as she leans against the bar “But did you actually want to go to college?” 

“No,” Uma laughs and takes another sip of her drink “Not at all, when I was seventeen I didn’t even think I would make it to twenty-three there was no way I was going to spend my last few years in college studying shit I would never put into practice.” 

“Well then take that off your list, sounds like you made the right decision not going.” Maleficent checks out the bar, trying to make sure no new customers had come in and she missed them. “I’m guessing your parents are the ones making you feel bad about college?” 

Uma nods “Yep, my mom acts like I’m a huge disappointment since I have been working part time jobs since high school,” 

“What jobs have you been doing since then? It’s been six years, I’m sure you’ve done a lot of different things.” 

“I have! I’ve done fast food, banking, retail, and  _ more  _ retail.” 

“Oh man retail is awful, fucking hated retail, clothing stores are the worst. Folding tables everyday for hours on end? Jail.” Maleficent says as she starts cleaning up the bar around Uma. 

“Dude! It’s literally hell, but I have always been working since I was eighteen and using my money on the household, I’ve been paying rent since I got my first job. I pay for my own food and whenever my mom needs me to pick something up for the house I go ahead and do so with my money.” 

“So you’re holding your own, you work most days, and you pay rent. How much rent are you paying, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“A little bit over six hundred a month,” 

Maleficent’s eyebrows shoot up into her dark brown hairline “That’s a lot of money to stay in your mom’s house. You know if you had a roommate in this area you would probably only be paying four hundred a month in rent and then your own food and like, heat. You might as well get your own place, babe.” 

Uma laughs harshly and finishes off her drink, she lets the tang sit in her mouth before she speaks again. “Yeah and I only really figured that out recently because my mom has always been so good at telling me how hard it would be to do it on my own and how it would cost me over a thousand dollars a month in this town and she’s been doing me such a favor by letting me stay at home.” 

“So you mean she’s been  _ gaslighting  _ you?” Mal says “Want another drink?” 

Uma nods her head “Yes on both counts.” 

Mal makes her another drink “So, you’re really young, twenty three, you’re not in any debt because you didn’t go to college, you have worked multiple different types of jobs in the past six years, you can afford six hundred dollar rent, and still have money for other things and your mom still makes you feel like you haven’t done enough? Do you have an older sibling by any chance?” 

“Yep,” Uma says as she takes the new drink Mal slides to her and drinks about half of it in one go “And he went to  _ college _ , he has a  _ wife  _ now, he has a  _ baby _ , he makes  _ forty-four thousand dollars a year _ ,” Uma whines “Andrew was always the golden boy.” 

“Mommy’s favorite?” 

Uma cringes “I wouldn’t even call him Mom’s favorite, I would call him Mom’s reflection. They are so much alike that it’s easy for mom to favor him because they think so much the same, my mom takes Andrew’s word like he’s God or something.” 

“Don’t tell me you believe in god,” Mal scoffs, a cocky smirk lighting up her face.

Uma rolls her eyes “I’m a lesbian that got outed in middle school, I don’t believe in anything anymore.” 

Mal brusts into laughter “I’m not laughing at your pain, I’m laughing because I agree with you.” 

Uma laughs back, beginning to feel that light fuzzy feeling she gets while drinking “Two Lesbians: One Trauma.” 

Mal’s hand slaps over her mouth but the giggles explode from her “Two lesbians, one trauma!” 

They burst out laughing, loud and unhinged, wild and ridiculous. Mal’s face starts turning pink and Uma’s ear begins to burn. 

“It’s always the lesbians with mommy issues,  _ always _ ,” Says Mal

“Our moms didn’t love us enough,” Uma says back

“Or emotionally manipulate us,” 

“Or give us love that is conditional,” 

“Or make us think we’re pieces of shit that don’t deserve love.” 

“That part!” Uma laughs 

“That fucking part!” Mal laughs back and they lean over and high five each other.

“That’s enough about me for now, I’m starting to feel this drink now, tell me about you.” Uma says directing the conversation elsewhere, Uma can talk about herself and her feelings but not for long stretches of time, Uma still feels like she is taking up too much space when she takes time to care about herself - that’s what happens when you grow up with two people in the house with  _ main-character-syndrome.  _

“Well a lot like you, just years older, maybe a little more stupid. Had an abusive piece of shit mom - but I left at 18, never looked back. It definitely got me in some trouble leaving so soon and so young, but I made it alright. Put myself through college, became a workaholic, then randomly at twenty-eight where I am now - i decided to just stop. To relax and get to know myself again. I spent so much time working and trying to be ‘normal’ I realized I didn’t know myself at all anymore.” 

Uma nods thoughtfully, she thinks about that a lot if she had left at 18 like how she wanted at first how different she would be now, if she would like the young woman she would have become or if it would have had its own set of problems. “Have you found yourself Ms. Dragon?” 

“I’m beginning too…” Mal smiles warmly looking down at the bar, thinking of what looks to be fond memories. “I think I spent so much time trying to be someone I wasn’t because society has all the rules, be  _ straight _ , go to  _ college _ , work a  _ nine to five _ , even though I didn’t really  _ want  _ any of that. I did it because I was told too even though I left my toxic environment and spent most of my twenties unhappy.” Mal sighs, but the sound is warm. “It’s been working at this bar, watching so many people be themselves and have fun and lose themselves in the music that reminds me that life is worth living the way I always wanted as a kid.” 

“How’d you want to live as a kid?” 

Mal grins, and Uma is awed by her smile and how her eyes crinkle up and sparkle as she thinks her thoughts “I wanted to make music, I wanted to be a creator, I wanted to feel everything. But as I got older I pushed my own feelings away to just become another ‘practical’ human” she puts air quotes around the word and Uma and Mal roll their eyes in unison. “But who the fuck wants to be practical? Who actually wants to be an accountant?” Mal scoffs “So I slowed down, I make enough where I don’t have to work if I don’t want to and everything I make here is for fun, for connection, to meet beautiful women like you.” 

“Oh? I’m beautiful?” 

Mal laughs “Yes of course! I have been feeling so much better since slowing down.” Mal flips her blonde locks so they fall back behind her again “I know that when I was eighteen I needed to get away, to escape, and even though I ended up in a lot of shit that didn’t necessarily help me they did shape me into the woman I am now and I  _ really  _ like the woman I see in the mirror.” 

Uma can’t stop the smile that grows on her face “You look happy, you look content.” 

“Oh I am, don’t get me wrong I do have my scars there’s still trauma under here that some days feel just as fresh as the day they cut me but I have been doing what I need to do to heal. I hope you can start that process.” 

“It’s been hard, that's for sure,” Uma laughs. “But I wake up and try to choose joy everyday, I try to be positive and someone who makes other people happy rather than make their day worse.” 

“Is choosing to be happy enough though? Are you working through the things that have happened to you or are you just pushing it aside and never dealing with it?” 

Uma bites her lip but gives the most honest answer she’s ever said “Sometimes, I can’t tell the difference anymore. I don’t hold grudges because I know that holding onto anger in my heart will only hurt me in the long haul. But I think allowing my mother to hurt me and get no consequences from that is now beginning to hurt me… I know it’s time to get some real separation from her because I am  _ so  _ angry at her.” 

Mal nods “You’re allowed to be angry and feel that,” 

“I think I would like to wait to feel that anger until I have my own place, there’s nothing like being angry at someone you live with who never apologizes to anyone. My rage doesn’t feel worth it, especially when it wont fix any of the problems at bay. I was never allowed to take up space with my emotions, when my mom and brother were having their bonding time I would simply just go upstairs and mind my business in my room. I have always been more internal about everything. I also don’t think they deserve to know my true emotions, everytime I try to open up to them they take it as me attacking them. Attacking my mom for being a bad parent, or just calling my brother out for being a shitty brother. I just… I don’t know dude I don’t think it’s worth it.

“When I told my mom I that I wanted to kill myself when I was seventeen she said that it  _ never happened _ , she tried to make me believe I never told her and that she didn’t remember that. Then got super angry at me for saying that so I couldn’t even finish telling her why I brought it up in the first place.” 

Mal’s face turns into a nasty grimace “That… is fucking awful, what the fuck,” 

“Any time I tell her anything about what makes me feel like shit she takes it as me telling her she’s a piece of shit mom, instead of looking at the fact her daughter just reminded her she wanted to kill herself when she was seventeen.” 

“Yeah she completely missed the point didn’t she?” 

“Of course, it’s that main-character-syndrome. She sees herself in every aspect of my life instead of looking at me. It’s just always  _ Uma’s lying, Uma’s not telling the truth, Uma is lying on me. _ Instead of saying ‘wow my daughter is really upset about something, let me get to the root of the problem and fix it.’ you know, the healthy thing to do.” 

Mal shakes her head “I feel like I need a drink after that,” 

“It’s fine, it just lets me know that all of my healing is going to be done on my own, No one is going to take my mental health seriously except me which is okay because it’s mine. I just know it’s time to get away from them… I’m feeling all this teenage angst all over again and to be quite frank I don’t have the time for it as an adult.” 

“These are sour times, my friend, I’m very sorry that happened to you. I’m sorry you tried to open up to her but we’re only hit with more ridicule.” 

“I just feel a little stupid, I feel like I set myself up for this, it’s my fault I know.” 

“Nah, no, that’s not your fault - don’t take blame for her faults.” 

Uma can’t say anything else, she just takes another sip and tries to close her eyes for a minute. 

“This is getting just a little too heavy, wanna go play darts? I can take my fifteen.” 

“Hell yeah, let’s go play darts.” 

Mal smiles “Give me just a second to come around,” and she turns and goes through a door she hadn’t noticed, when Mal comes back Uma gets a chance to check out Mal’s entire body, she walks up to Uma her low cut black shirt is like a second skin to her stomach, her waist is snatched and as Uma looks down her body she can’t help the gasp that slips from her lips as she looks at her barmaid. 

“Purple leather pants, Mal, really?” Uma can’t help the laugh as she stands up from her barstool to meet Mal halfway to her and Mal’s green eyes go wide with fake astonishment. 

“What? They are very comfy!” Mal laughs “And they make my ass look great, look, look, look,” and just like that Mal turns around and shakes her ass for Uma and Uma goes ahead and hypes her up woo-ing at Mal’s body until Mal laughs some more. “Come on, dart wall is on the other side of the bar,” The duo go ahead and walk to over the side of the bar closer to the tables and the music where some younger kids are dancing with drinks in their hands to Madison Beer’s “BOYSHIT” 

“Alright so we talked about the deep funky stuff, tell me something fun about you,” Mal says as she grabs the darts from the board and brings them back to Uma “go ahead and go first babe,” 

Uma takes the darts from Mal and thinks about what she requested, something light and fun about Uma, Uma had a lot of things that were light and funny about her, but she also wanted it to be something to impress the pretty older woman next to her. “I studied opera for a year,” 

“Holy shit you can sing?” 

“Yeah! I was a choir kid in school,” Uma says and lets the first dart fly, it hits twenty just a little too high to hit the middle where she wanted. “I took it super seriously, I still love music but I’ve moved on from opera.” 

“So you can do super high notes huh? What type of music do you listen to now?” 

“Ooooou, probably hot girl rap the most.” 

“Hot girl rap?” Mal asks, lost. 

“Yeah like, um, Megan thee Stallion, Flo Milli, Saweetie, Yung Baby Tate, just girls that rap about being hot and having sex.” 

Maleficent grins “That is magnificent, I’ll have to check them out,” 

“What about you? What music are you into?” Uma throws her next dart, but it goes a little too left and hits 11 wide. Uma frowns at the dart in the wall. 

“Honestly? I think all of my music is stuck in 2015 dubstep. I just like noise, I don’t like the quiet but I also don’t listen to much music with words in it. Kinda funky huh?” 

Uma laughs out loud “I went through a dubstep phase, it was good for the rage issues.” 

“You know, I’ve been talking to you for a minute and I just don’t see rage issues from you, I don’t see anger, everything you’re saying tonight has just been a matter of fact. Like crossing things off a list.” 

Uma squints as she throws her last dart trying to concentrate, “I think I’ve just been told I have rage issues so I just kinda rolled with it…” she sets the dart loose, finally, fitting the fifty in the middle. “I actually have no idea if I have rage issues.” 

“Then you probably don’t have rage issues babe.” 

“Huh.” 

“Trauma. It’ll do that to you.” 

The girls laugh with one another. “Well, that’s 81 for me, are we doing this round out of a 100?” 

Mal shakes her head “You’re too good at this game, yeah, out of a hundred since I only have a fifteen right now.” Mal walks back to the board and grabs the darts again to set up her turn. Uma watches her intently, she watches the way she turns her body to the side, right foot slightly behind her and how her arms tighten up as she gets ready to do her throw. 

“Something tells me you’re about to kick my ass at this game.” 

Mal doesn’t answer but grins again, baring all her teeth, a vicious smile that makes Uma wonder what her teeth would feel like against her skin. Mal’s first dart hits straight on in the center with a sharp noise and Uma almost flinches at the accuracy. 

“Goddamn!” She praises Mal and claps her hands together “Very good, very proud of you,” 

Mal just continues to grin “Let me tell you this, I think you’re handling your situation pretty well, it sounds like you know that it’s only going to get worse as you get older. Do you think you’ll be able to move out, love?” 

Uma stops and thinks about it as she watches Mal throw another dart just slightly above the one she did previously. “Yeah, I think so, I’ve already kinda made the decision in my head that it’s time to go. I think it’s best for me to just… exit and then I can deal with all of my emotional bruises once I am allowed to take up all the space I need to, to leave.” 

Mal smiles “That seems so much better than what I did, my mom basically just gave me all my shit and was like ‘alright, you need to go now,’ pretty much the day after I turned eighteen. I didn’t know shit about the world, I didn’t have anyone teaching me anything. I just got up and tried to make something of myself.” 

“How did it go being out on your own so young? Did you run into a lot of problems?” 

“Yes and no?” Mal stops to think as she rolls the last dart she has around her fingers “It was more like, I didn’t know how shit worked so I learned how shit worked. It was stressful the first year, a lot of couch surfing and connecting with people who ended up being pieces of shit, or stealing from me. It wasn’t anything that could have killed me, but enough where it cracked me a little bit. I dated a lot of straight girls.” 

Uma squeals and turns away laughing “Not straight girls!” 

“Yes!” Mal laughs back “Straight girls! God, I didn’t love myself. They used to hurt me so good.” 

“You liked the pain,” 

“I liked the chase, the idea of being with a woman who didn’t really want me… did something for me, I had something to prove back then.” 

“Did you prove it to yourself?” 

“I don’t think it was even for me, it was for society, I was really pissed at society for the majority of my young adult years. I feel like I act more like a kid now, than I did before because I’m finally not shackled to my anger.” 

“Ooooooh, I feel that. Acting childish now feels so much more satisfying.” 

“You see me,” 

“I see you,” 

Mal throws her last dart but it goes a little too far right and she ends up with a six, she sticks her tongue out at it, then turns back to face Uma. “So, do you think you wanna go to college now? Or is the dream dead?” 

“I think if I do anything, it’ll be a trade school or something I’m actually interested in. Something creative, maybe with a little science behind it. Like if I could do cosmetology, do hair and makeup because” Uma gestures to her own face, her blue eyeliner and neutral lip “I do that stuff already, learning how to do it professionally would be cool.” 

“That’s really smart, and then that’s something you can do anywhere. If you wanted to leave Auradon you could, you can do that anywhere.” Mal says “I always suggest traveling, it might be a little lonely but I think when about everything I have done I’m glad I didn’t stay in Auradon, but this is my home, I came back eventually.” Mal walks to Uma and throws her arm around her shoulder “It also lets you know if you really consider this place home, or if it’s just where you have been all your life.” 

“Have you ever felt homesick for a place you’ve never been before?” Uma asks “I think… I think I get that feeling sometimes.” 

Mal nods “Which is why I go wherever my heart wants me too, it was hard learning to listen to myself and what I want because I couldn’t do that in my youth but it’s something I listen too and don’t deny myself anymore.” 

Uma let’s her hand brush Mal’s arm and wrap her fingers around it, her body is warm and close and she wants to lean into her “Where are the best places you’ve been?” 

“Paris,” she sighs. “It’s so wonderful there, Italy too. It was nice to see Europe. I’ve always wanted to as a kid and spending time there let me know I could always do it again.” 

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve been anywhere outside of Auradon.” 

“Well add those places to the list babe, you have a whole life ahead of you, and so much time to live it.” 

“I think you are the only person I’ve spoken to this week that reminds me that I’m young.” 

“It’s good to be young, and eager for life. I hate that you haven’t had that. These could be the best years of your life, you just gotta make a couple choices and get the fuck out of that shitty home enviorment.” 

“The crazy thing is,” Uma starts as Mal leans and pulls her back to the bar her fifteen minute break being over “I know that as soon as I get real separation from them I would probably really like my mom, I think she’s hilarious when she’s not being a fucking asshole.” 

“That’s how it always goes!” Mal agrees “You can see the good in her, you’ve been with her for twenty three years I would expect you to have good feelings about her to go along with the bad ones too. That’s a normal response.” 

“I think it’ll be nice if we only talk a couple times a month, I live my life the way I want too not under her microscope and her little microaggressions. 

“OH, we didn’t even talk about it, is she homophobic?” Mal says as she takes Uma back to her barstool and even goes as far as to grab her by the hips and sit her up on her chair, Uma laughs and lets herself be sat down by the older woman. 

“Oh yeah, in those real subtle ways, not where she’s saying gay people are a mistake anymore but where she’s like ‘oh he’s gay so his opinion on women doesn’t matter,’ or when she sees a man in a dress and she gets one of those ugly looks on her face like it’s the most unnatural thing she’s ever seen.” 

Mal laughs “wait until she finds out about non-bianry people” 

Uma laughs back but waits for Mal to head back behind the bar and back to her before speaking again “She was so angry at Sam Smith for changing his pronouns to they/them simply because she didn’t understand but then instead of learning just spewed negative nonsense.” 

“She’s a lady of a certain age I’m sure?” 

“Yep.” 

“Yeah… she won’t be willing to learn.” 

“And I no longer expect her too,” 

Mal stops and just looks at Uma for a minute, like she did when Uma first walked into the bar. Watchful and deep into her eyes “You’re very cute.” 

Uma can’t stop the grin that magically sprouts from her face. “Thank you,” 

“Look at that smile,” Mal says as she continues to watch her. She shakes her head “You have got to be the strongest person I've met in the past two years. So fucking reslisent to keep living in that enviorment.” 

Uma just shrugs, “leaving was never really presented as a positive option to me, so I never really considered it. It’s funny too the younger kids nowadays are more into leaving home than previous generations I think.” 

“Oh yeah, Gen Z are fucking monsters. They get with their friends save up some coin and just buy a fucking house, like crazy people.” 

Uma can’t help but laugh as Mal makes her another drink and also slides her a water “Literally so wild.” 

“So you’ve never wanted to move out and be with your girlfriend or anything?” Mal asks as Uma sips on her vodka sour. She moves the glass to show her face and her shrug. 

“I did back when I was twenty one, I even flew out to see her, she lived on the other side of the country and my mom hated it so much but that relationship didn’t work out. She was a piece of shit.” 

“You seem to have a lot of pieces of shit in your life,” 

“I have a type,” Uma says with a cringe and Mal laughs out loud. 

The conversation has to still as more drinkers come up to the bar and start ordering drinks but Uma doesn’t mind, she pulls out her phone and checks her notifications to see a text from Gil. 

**GIL: Harry and I are gonna head to the Isle of the Lost, wanna join us?**

**UMA: You won’t believe it but I am already here, been here for about an hour and a half**

**GIL: WICKED. Will see you in about twenty minutes.**

Usually when bad things happen with Uma’s mom she goes to her boys to talk about it but today she just hadn’t felt like dropping all her shit on them, they were so good at listening and being there for her but she didn’t want them to see her a weak or always sad or upset about something. She didn’t want her problems at home to affect the way her best friends saw her. She decided to come to this bar to just have it out with herself but instead talking to Mal, someone who doesn’t know her and has an unbiased opinion on her and her situation does let her know that she should consider therapy… again. 

“I’m back with you,” Mal says and smiles down at Uma and Uma grins back 

“Glad to have you, my crazy friends just texted and now they’re talking about coming down here for drinks,” 

“Oh yeah? Are they regulars I might know?” 

“Um, Gil and Harry. Harry has black hair and is always wearing thick eyeliner, and Gil looks like a golden retriever, he’s just happy to be around, always smiling compared to Harry’s evil smirk.” 

“Harry always wears that long red, leather duster right?” 

“Exactly.”

“He ended up stopping a bar fight here a few weeks ago, he seems pretty alright.” 

“Cool, if you ever want too you can link up with us, our trio is always open to new members. Gil’s boyfriend Jay comes around sometimes with the three of us, but I think we’re a little too chaotic for him.” 

“Oh yeah, Harry is probably a handful,” Mal says 

“Definitely, but that’s what hands are for.” 

Mal raises her eyebrows at that one and Uma can feel her face start to burn. Mal… Mal seems to like staring at Uma watching her face change as time goes on, it almost makes Uma uncomfortable, she’s never really been stared at like this before, like someone is trying to see the inside of her soul versus looking past her. 

Uma doesn’t really feel seen much, or listened to by the people closest to her, she figured it simply wasn’t in the cards for her and she was okay with that. But now watching Mal look at her let her know things very well could be changing… So she can’t help it when the smile on her face grows even more and she has to look away because it’s new and exciting and kinda terrifying. 

Mal takes this time to check on her other customers, making more drinks, and checking on everyone while Uma checks out her phone and continues to text her friends as they make their way to the Isle of the Lost. She knows that when they get here it’s gonna add a little extra something to her night, a little something to her fresh buzz, and the night will finally end in dancing. 

When she finds herself looking over at Mal and smiling at her, their eyes keep finding each other, even as Mal works her eyes find Uma and watch her with her open eyes. Has Uma ever seen someone who looked so open at her before? 

“Uuuuuuuma!” Says a loud scottish voice and Uma turns to see one of her best friends looking dashing as ever in his long red leather duster that always reminded Uma of a pirate, his hair was black and messy atop his head and falling into his eyes that were covered in eyeshadow and liner, his chest was bare under his coat and his pants were a tight black leather and with doc martens. 

“There’s my boys!” Uma says warmly and throws her arms around Harry in a warm hug “How are you guys?” 

“I’m great, guess what Uma?” says Gil. He's smiling wickedly and his long blonde hair is going past his shoulders now and sits right on his blue sweater vest “I got the management position!”

“Ahhh!” Says Uma her grin exploding from her face and onto Gil’s and Harry’s “That’s amazing love!” 

Gil had been working for a small company that helps young foster kids travel the world, Gil had been a foster kid until he was adopted at seventeen. It meant so much for him to work with other foster kids and help them find good homes or even to just have a good time while they waited for their forever family. Gil took his work seriously and had been with his company for many years to finally see him move up and be seen as more than just a regular employee like he always wanted to be, makes Uma so proud of him. Uma wraps herself around him and holds him tight, Gil had always been the sweetest and too kind for the world that they lived in to see him grow into more of who he always was in the shitty corporate world… maybe he could be the change the world needed. 

“So as you can see, we are celebrating tonight!” Harry’s loud voice rings out with pleasure as he comes and throws his arms around his hugging friends. “SHOTS!” Harry says loudly and laughing and turning back to the bar, where Mal is already waiting, smiling at them and pushing her blonde hair behind her back. 

“What will it be for you boys?” She already has another drink for Uma ready and Uma smiles at her and gives her a little wink as she takes her vodka sour and sips on it. Mal purses her lips and grins back at her. 

“Tequila for me, darling,” Says Harry “Give me a double shot!” 

“I’ll have the same,” Says Gil and both boys sit down at the bar “We’re celebrating!” 

“Oh? Tell me all about it,” says Mal and that’s enough for Gil to start, he tells her briefly about his childhood in foster care, how he found his family after being sent to juvie and how he now helps other foster kids find good homes and vacations and trips. How he tries to add joy in the smallest places in any way that he possibly can. 

“That is very honorable of you,” Says Mal as she watches Harry and Gil down their drinks but her eyes find Uma’s again and now she’s smiling at her, something about it feels secret… special and waiting. 

“Why thank you!” said Gil he grins “and now, I wanna dance!” and just as quickly as he sat down Gil gets up and makes his way over to the dance floor. 

“I will turn up the music,” says Mal and she takes a little turn behind her bar and amps up the volume. ‘Slumber Party’ by Ashnikko begins to blare from the speakers and Gil swings back to look at Uma. 

“This is your song!” He tells her and throws his arms out to her “Come!” 

Uma can’t stop the smile that overtakes her face as she takes another sip from her drink then runs over to Gil slipping in front of him and grinding her hips and ass against him as his hands fall to her hips and they laugh and dance together. Harry comes up behind Gil and takes his hips in his hands and they make a train of dancing and laughing and alcohol. 

As Uma dances she turns back to the bar and looks for Maleficent, only to find the bar empty of her and someone else standing where she once stood, Uma finds herself looking around for her searching for her green eyes. 

“Mind if I cut in?” Just like that, there’s her voice, warm and thick in her ear. Uma shivers as she turns her head to the side and see’s Mal. Her smile is warm as her pale hand traces down Uma’s arm. She watches it and then looks back up at Mal and nods her head. Their fingers intertwine and Mal pulls her away from her friends. They only go a few paces away but it feels like the rest of the world disappears as Uma stares deep into Mal’s green eyes, her free hand goes up on her shoulder as they stand so close, Mal’s thigh comes between Uma’s legs and parts them. Their hips align as they begin to rock back and forth staring at each other. 

“You know… I think you can do anything you put your mind to. I think you just have to make the decision first. Look at your friend, coming up in the world. You can do that too, you don’t have to stay in an environment where all that happens is you get hurt. You can have a good life.” Mal says and she slips her hand that was holding Uma’s out of her reach and strokes Uma’s face. “Make the choice to be free of them, look at your friends, so happy and open, you can be that too.” 

Uma… doesn’t know what to do with that, she had been holding on to her pain, her trauma, and her bad thoughts for so long how would it feel to let it go? Is she so caught up in her own pain that it feels so familiar she doesn’t want to leave it? Is that the real reason she’s never left? Never pushed for anything harder? 

“I know living in pain can feel like there’s nothing outside of it, but… I’m outside of it, Harry is outside of it, Gil, you can be too… just make the choice to leave.” 

“Is it really that easy?” 

“You’re an adult now, it can be, if you want it too. I can help you… be your friend, or more.” 

“Why do you want to help me?” 

“You’re so young, you have so much potential, everything to live for. The world is open and at your feet, just take it… I can help you. I promise.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I like you,” 

“After one night?” 

“Yes,” 

“Uma…” Mal’s hand is still on Uma’s face stroking her cheek 

“Kiss me,” It’s a demand and Uma begging at the same time her voice is soft, her body is melting into the woman in front of her and she can’t stop her eyes from closing as Mal finally ends the space between them and kisses her. Her lips are soft and warm against Uma’s and Uma can feel her smiling as her hand continues to stroke her cheek. When Uma pulled away, just an inch Mal does the same and looks at her, her smile is warm and everything she could have ever wanted. 

Could this woman be a part of her new future? 

Uma couldn’t wait to find out.


End file.
